Mrs Moreau’s Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names by Stephen Moss

”Swallow and starling, puffin and peregrine, blue tit and blackcap. We use these names so often that few of us ever pause to wonder about their origins. What do they mean? Where did they come from? And who created them?”

Naming helps in identification, scientific nomenclature helps in classification, but the reason for the names and thestories behind them are worthy to be explored.

The words used to name birds are some of the most lyrical and evocative in the English language. They also tell incredible stories: of epic expeditions, fierce battles between rival ornithologists, momentous historical events and touching romantic gestures.
Through fascinating encounters with birds, and the rich cast of characters who came up with their names, in ‘Mrs Moreau’s Warbler’ Stephen Moss takes us on a remarkable journey through time.

From when humans and birds first shared the earth to our fraught present-day coexistence, Moss shows how these names reveal as much about us and our relationship with the natural world as about the creatures they describe